Next
on our itinerary is the 17th century Basilica of Fourviere situated
on a hill overlooking the city. I don’t
know what I like better the actual building and everything it stands for or the
location which is on a hill overlooking the city of Lyon below. You could make out the old quarter and the
Rhone and Saone Rivers as well as the “ugly” opera house and the regional
government buildings bedazzled with gold-leaf statues and semi-domes. The sight is entirely majestic and somewhat
breathtaking.

A view from the outside overlooking Lyon

A view from the inside

Roman ruins

Just a short walk from the steps of the
Basilica of Fourviere is an ancient Roman construction of one large
amphitheater and one smaller amphitheater.
The lines were very exact and pure as the configuration was that of
modern-day arrangements. They say that replication
is the sincerest form of flattery and the Romans were master builders that are
being copied to this very day. I was in
awe of this site as it was the first one of its kind that I had ever seen. Most of the other students were also quite
taken as they too were silent in their respect and admiration of this amazing
view.

Preparing for a concert (on this night it was the Lyon Symphonic Orchestra)

In this modern day, Lyon uses this
amphitheater for theatrical use and also operas and concerts.Our guide said that Sting, Paul McCartney and
the Lyonaise symphony have recently performed here over the last few weeks.She wasn't too enthused about the upcoming
schedule of Irish and folk bands coming to play….I admire her honesty and
straight-forward attitude, very refreshing.

Atelier d’Yvonne

Tonight dinner is at
Restaurant Atelier d’Yvonne which
is a popular
Lyonnaise bouchon that is located down a narrow street only accessed by pedestrian
walk-ways which is another cool feature to this city. There is an inordinate amount of
pedestrian-only streets in Lyon and I find that to be a wonderful feature that
provides a classy nuance as well as convenient access to shopping and dining
districts.

Braised beef and vegetables in wine - stunning!

Finally, we are having a traditionally
rustic dinner at Restaurant Atelier. We
had good old-fashioned roasted veal over a root vegetable ratatouille that was
splendid. It didn't take your breath
away or anything like that but it was excellent, solid food that I was craving
for at the time. I enjoyed the meal as
it twas very filling and tasty. We
washed it all down with the region’s famous wine of beaujolais. Much beaujolais and then some more
beaujolais. By this time in our long
trip ; I’ve grown very accustomed to drinking wine at just about every
meal. I’m going to go back to my room
(my private, wonderful room) and have the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very
long time.

Thursday, May 24 –

A Lyonnaise Breakfast

This morning we visit the indoor market La
Halle de Lyon to see an incredible array of meat, poultry, fish, cheese, fruit,
and vegetables. There are also bars (you
know booze?), Fromageries, fish tanks, wine suppliers/outlets, more bars,
patisseries (I love the pastry in France cest bon!) and an array of anything
you can imagine that is associated with all things culinary. This place is simply amazing.

Fromage!

Yes, the heads are left on in France

Fresh veggies

The requisite charcuterie

My personal favorite!

You can't forget the fish

We
will first experience a true breakfast Lyonnais, a machon to be enjoyed at the
market with Michel’s friend Yannis and yes it includes Beaujolais. Our first
course is a traditional charcuterie plate with cured hams, salami, mortadella
and cheese with the requisite baguettes of bread all washed down with
wine! This is 8:00am folks that’s am as in the morning and we’re drinking
wine!

It
gets better (maybe worse for some folks) as our next course is deep-fried
tripe….yeah, baby! I love this stuff as
it is served predominately in Asia my, seemingly, second home. Unfortunately for us on this day the tripe
wasn’t cleaned properly and it tasted more like the back side of the cow
instead of its stomach, too bad. We are
then served a butt-load of oysters and I’m scratching my head thinking - - - -
this is breakfast?

Well,
you know what they say “when in Lyon, do as the Lyonnais do” and I sucked down
about 8 or 9 oysters as I’m a big fan.
We next are served café (coffee), pastries and 150 proof French
moonshine. Pinch me please! Are we expected to actually drink this
stuff? Just when I was asking myself
this in my head is when Michel bellowed “Remember, we don’t want to offend our
hosts – then he whispered….so you have to
drink their booze” and drink we
did.

After our adventurous breakfast I
noticed a small gathering of our group congregating at the nearby bar and
Michel summoning me to come over. Just
when I got closer to see what was up is when I noticed the jug of the infamous
moonshine being passed around. My
initial reaction was to beat feet and get outta there but I succumbed and
joined in with the drink and ensuing song – this I obliged rather happily. This was the best breakfast ever!

Bernachon

Following the market, I wasn’t in the mood
do much else other than maybe take a nap but we visited family-owned
Chocolatier Bernachon. These guys are
the toast of the town when it comes to chocolate….as a matter of fact they are
the toast of France when it comes to confections. They roast their own cocoa beans and use the
finest ingredients to create an exquisite array of chocolates, confections and pastries.

We
were able to tour their facilities and we passed process after process showing
the steadfast and arduous undertaking to produce these world-famous
products. There were folks from
Argentina sorting out cocoa beans. Turns
out the sorting is necessary as the South American people have some of the best
beans on the planet but that’s not all they send when a shipment is assembled
in this far away land. The Bernachon
employees have discovered stones, small rocks, wine corks, bottle caps (both beer
and soft drink varieties), cigarette butts and more necessitating the need for
sorting.

We saw
a machine that the founder himself designed to wrinkle or crinkle thin layers
of chocolate to produce their signature “look” of feathers of chocolate fanned
out on top of various cakes. It is quite
impressive looking as a finished product but the process is rather pedestrian
in nature. Most notable end-products
that are moving to look at or taste have their roots in rudimentary practices
and methodology. These small epiphanies
fuel my desire to persevere in the culinary field more so than ever. This trip will launch my career and enrich my
life everlasting.

We
strolled by drying machines and cake baking ovens and truffle assembly-lines
and gold leaf production and design. The
work load is great but the outcome is nothing short of miraculous due to the
skill level of all involved. The age
range at Bernachon varied greatly from young apprentices to old masters. This is what I expected to see in most of the
kitchens we visited but found an entirely different scenario with older
executive and sous chefs surrounded by a much younger supporting cast in almost
ALL kitchens. Not so at Bernachon!

The world-famous choclatier

My mouth began to water

You mind starts enjoying before it ever enters your mouth

Color and texture are as important as flavor

We
next ventured out into the showroom after our tour and began to ravenously pour
over their selections for purchase. I
believe I’m correct in saying that every
group member bought some form of product at this stop on our culinary tour of
France. This is the very first time that
all parties combined to unanimously make purchases on this trip.

Our next stop was to a proper farm where we were able to get an up
close view of dairy production, pork husbandry and production, beef fabrication
and charcuterie making. We first started
out in the pasture with the dairy cows grazing on the grass and looking
otherwise placid and tranquil, just your typical French country-side scene
complete with picture post-card quality and charm. Our next steps were toward the barn where the
housing and milking and stench reside.

My idea of an ideal French farm (it exists!)

I felt as though I was back home in sleepy little old Lake Orion, MI
because I worked on farms there and the sights, sounds and smells were reminiscent
of my youth.It was very heartwarming
and brought a fond smile to my face.Meanwhile, most of the kids and students were lamenting their current
status as city-folk being on a farm making clever comments with regard to the
smell and sanitary conditions.I may
have been the only one who felt completely comfortable and familiar with my
surroundings.

An attempt to keep the farm off their shoes

Walking through the barn made me remember my youth and adolescent
years with great pride and how we used to go cow-tipping (very un-cool and
cruel but tremendous fun for disrespectful and rambunctious youth’s) and how we
would dare the new kid he couldn't pee on the fence (it was electrified) and
how we’d use hardened cow pies as mini Frisbees.We would also climb cherry and apple trees to
eat the recently ripened fruit only to find ourselves trapped over the newly
forming herd of cows and more importantly realizing that the bulls are now
looking straight up at us licking their chops.

Curious swine .... why is everyone looking at us?

Very cute and cuddly!

How do we get out of this predicament one would ask? Well, for a mischievous youth succumbing to
peer pressure and a full bladder of apple and cherry juice; there was no other
choice but to pee on them prompting them to move. Much to our delight they started lapping at
our newly airborne urine like a child drinking out of a garden hose.

We squealed with delight as our immature
little minds were all too warped to understand this to be normal behavior for a
mere cow. We were humanizing an animal
to satisfy our sick little imaginations albeit ignoring the fact that our stupid
little ploy didn’t work in dispersing the cows and more importantly the bull in
our immediate vicinity staring at us awaiting our demise.

This little one found itself in the farmers personal garden!

Fresh out of ideas, we waited and waited tapping our undeveloped
little pea brains trying to figure out what we would do to get out of this
predicament.After about 2 hours my
mother called me in for dinner and without hesitation I jumped down from the
tree and ran as fast as I could to the electric fence and hopped over it with
the ease of an Olympic athlete and into the house for a delicious meal prepared
by my mom. A mother who was giving birth to my culinary musings at a time
unbeknownst to me that would become my eventual profession.

The power of a mother’s call cannot be surpassed especially when you
have an aching in your belly for some good old-fashioned home cooking. After we finished dinner I had completely
forgotten about my friends still in the tree and wandered out to the fence and
pleaded with them to follow my lead from approximately an hour ago. Slowly, one by one they all came down out of
the trees and went home to their own mothers.
Funny thing about a farm and how it will conjure up a memory….funny
thing indeed.

Chow
time

When we were walking all over this farm listening how the farmers took
care of their craft and realizing how noble a profession theirs is; I began to
notice stirrings under a ¾ sided structure lined with tables and table
clothes. Are we going to eat here and
how cool would that be to have a meal at this farm using the products that once
roamed the fields just a short distance away.
I noticed a sign that mentioned “charcuterie” just inside the property
line and my mouth started to water at the prospect that we’d be noshing on
delectable and meaty offerings from these country-gentlemen and women.

Charcuterie aging on the farm

This stuff smelled terrific!

When we finished with touring the pig building (which by-the-way was
all too perfect as we were able to hold and cuddle with a little piglet) our
gentlemen farmers led us to this ¾ hut and we sat down to a fantastic but
simple meal of country lentils (with thyme and shallots), various sausages and
cured meats, homemade bread, pickles and wine.
Our meal wasn’t complete without a visit from the farm cat who horned in
on the action due to the loving nature of a couple ladies who allowed the
feline a few morsels of food. Just
magnifique!!!!

The French farm cat

Charcuterie on the farm - from the farm!

Our table of goodies - simply delicious!

A guided tour

So it is early afternoon we have now
traveled to Lyon, France’s gastronomic Mecca. Upon arrival in Lyon, we have a
guided visit of the Vieux Lyon (old quarter) that includes the Traboules
(ancient passages). The old quarter is
pretty cool with an enormous representation of the old-style architecture
surrounded by a more modern setting altogether.

One of two rivers that run through Lyon (Rhone and Sohne)

Lyon's namesake - the Lion

Ancient Roman ruins that are used today as a concert venue

Our guide was telling us how the new opera house is actually modern for
the Lyonaise as the overwhelming color scheme (black on the outside and black
on the inside) isn't up the French standards and the contemporary arching dome
was too plain and just boring for the city-folk. Our guide calls it horrible, terrible and an
abomination. It’s nice that she got this
off her chest; I’d hate for her to have to be carrying all this negativity
around with her every day

Okay, it's a bit ugly - especially for the French

Ancient passages

The Traboules or ancient passages were VERY
cool! There are these doors in between
buildings and there is no sign indicating where they lead or to whom it belongs
– they are just there being a door but when you open it you discover a passage
that leads through the buildings. These
passages are a route to get to the other side of the building on foot as the
city planners a few hundred years ago weren't as keen on convenience by putting
a road in this area as space was at a premium.
Stories of spirits wandering these halls and tunnels are unbridled and
wild. Of course each story is raging
with embellishment and it wouldn't be a proper ghost story if it weren't raging
with embellishment.

Images protruding from buildings meant to menace passersby

The surroundings are spectacular!

The hustle and bustle of a Lyonaise street

Imagine seeing stuff like this every day of your life?

Off these pedestrian tunnels winds another
world of pathways leading to private residences, townhouse complexes and
apartments. It’s quite surreal to
experience a city within a city and it’s one of the most unique features of any
city I’ve ever encountered.